Football, Nationalism and Globalization: A Comparison of England

1
Football, Nationalism and Globalization A
Comparison of England Italy

• Professor Roger Penn
• Lancaster University

2
Conceptual Beginnings Football Based on
Nationality and Nationalism

• Nationalism, nations and nationality all have a
  long pedigree historically
• Nationalism received considerable impetus from
  the French Revolution, not just in Europe but
  also in Central and South America
• It grew throughout the C19th the unification of
  Italy and Germany
• It accelerated after 1918 and again after 1945

3
Conceptual Beginnings Football based on
Nationality and Nationalism

• From its inception football has been powerfully
  affected by nationalism and national templates
• Football clubs competed in national leagues
• Football clubs players, coaches, owners and
  spectators generally came from the same nation
• Football was regulated by national federations
• Football became international within a decade of
  its codification
• This became institutionalized once national
  federations formed international governing bodies
  and organized international competitions
• This was the template/axial principle for
  football historically

4
Globalization I

• Football spread from its origins as a codified
  sport in Britain to a wide range of global
  destinations within a matter of decades
• The game spread from Britain as a result of
  British commercial and economic imperialism
• Examples railways Peñarol, Rosario Central,
  textiles AC Milan, expatriates Genoa and
  former school pupils Newalls Old Boys
• This took place within a system of nation states

5
Globalization II

• This is a complex concept or set of concepts
• We can define globalization as a process whereby
  football takes on an increasingly global form
• Clubs compete in supra-national leagues
• Players, coaches, owners and spectators cease to
  be nationally exclusive but come from a plethora
  of national geographic origins

6
Globalization III

• The growth of globalization is seen as an
  emergent/dominant feature of the modern world
• Football is seen as an exemplar of these changes
• The presentation explores these ideas in relation
  to football in England and Italy
• This is an extension of earlier work comparing
  other aspects of English Italian football
• It compares the trajectories of the two countries
  using a mix of quantitative, historical and
  hermeneutic approaches

7
Nationality of Players in English Division 1
Squads, 1970-1
8
Nationality of English Premier League Squads
2010/11 Season
9
Nationality of English Top Tier Squads 1970 2010
10
Arsenal
11
Manchester United
12
Tottenham Hotspur
13
Wolverhampton Wanderers
14
Nationality of Managers of English Division 1
Squads, 1970-1
15
Nationality of Managers of Premier League
Squads, 2010-11
16
Nationality of Managers of Premier League Squads
1970 2010
17
Nationality of Owners of English First Division
Clubs, 1970-1
18
Nationality of Premier League Owners 2010/11
Season
19
Nationality of Premier League Owners 2010/11
Season
20
Nationality of Serie A Players, 1930s Champions
Only
21
Italian Diaspora

• 25 million emigrants from Italy since unification
  in 1870
• 9 million between 1900 and 1915
• 20 million Argentines of Italian descent 17.8
  million in the USA
• 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent
• 50 of Uruguayan population of Italian descent

22
Istria/Fiume
23
Istria/Fiume, 1910
24
Istria/Fiume, 2001
25
Symbiosis of South American Footballers Italy

• 1930 World Cup Final teams
• Argentina 3 emigrated to play in Serie A I
  played for Italy in the 1934 Final
• Uruguay 2 went to play in Italy
• 1934 Italian team who won the World Cup Final
  against Czechoslovakia had 3 former Argentine
  internationals in their team
• 1950 Uruguayan winners provided two subsequent
  Italian international players
• 1962 Italian World Cup squad contained 2 former
  Brazilian and 2 former Argentine international
  players all were strikers!
• Foreigner players banned in Serie A from
  1965-1980

26
Nationality of Serie A Players, 1950s Champions
Only
27
Nationality of Serie A Players, 1930s 1950s
Champions Only
28
Nationality of Italian Serie A Players 1988/1989
Season
29
Nationality of Italian Serie A Players 2010/11
Season
30
Nationality of Italian Serie A Players 1988/9
2010/11
31
Milan Nationality of Players 1989 2010
32
Napoli Nationality of Players 1989 2010
33
Inter Nationality of Players 1989 2010
34
Juventus Nationality of Players 1989 2010
35
Lazio Nationality of Players 1989 2010
36
Nationality of Coaches in Serie A, 1930s
Champions Only
37
Nationality of Coaches in Serie A, 1950s
Champions Only
38
Nationality of Coaches in Serie A, 1930s 1950s
Champions Only
39
Nationality of Coaches in Serie A, 1988/1989
Season
40
Nationality of Italian Serie A Managers/Coaches
2010/11 Season
41
Nationality of Italian Serie A Coaches 1989 2010
42
Owners of Serie A Clubs 1930-2010
43
Trajectories of Non-British Players, Managers
Owners in English Footballs Top Tier
44
Trajectories of Non- Italian Players, Managers
Owners in Serie A
45
England Italy Compared
46
Conclusions

• The trajectories of nationalism and globalization
  are significantly different between England and
  Italy
• Italian football was much more global in scope
  than English football in the 1930s and 1950s
  this was powerfully affected by the enormous
  Italian diaspora in South America but not in
  North America
• Italian clubs utilized foreign coaches in large
  numbers in the 1930s and 1950s however, they
  have progressively disappeared since that time
• Italian clubs remain exclusively in Italian
  ownership Italian capitalism is far more
  autarkic partly as result of the legacy of
  Mussolinis corporatism

47
Conclusions

• In England the trajectories of players, managers
  and owners all follow a very similar pattern
• English football was almost entirely British in
  scope until fairly recently
• Over the last 15 years or so foreign players and
  to a lesser extent managers have come to the
  Premier League in accelerating numbers
• In the last decade the ownership of English clubs
  has been massively transformed now two-thirds
  are in overseas ownership

48
Conclusions

• National templates continue to be important, more
  so in Italy than currently in England
• Globalization has increased in English football
  but significantly less so in Italy
• Historic connections based upon mass emigration
  continue to be important in Italy this evidenced
  by the continuing flow of South American players
  there

49
Data Sources

• Rothmans latterly Sky XXX
• Annuario del Calcio Mondiale
• Calcio Italia
• T. Crouch The World Cup The Complete History
• Wikipedia

50
References

• D. Gabacci Italys Many Diasporas
• R. Giulianotti R. Robertson Globalization
  Football

51
Appendix Recent Publications on the Sociology of
Football I

• Il calcio in notturna e la città. Verso una
  economia della notte in E. Minardi (ed.)
  Economia e Sociologia della Notte Homeless Books
  Faenza, 2000.
• Football and Local Economic Development Soccer
  Review, Leicester, 2002, pp 58-62, 0-9544311-1-1.
  (also available at www.le.ac.uk/crss/.)
• Management of a Football Club A Case Study of
  Blackburn Rovers F.C. Soccer Review, Leicester
  2002, pp 40-6, 0-9544311-1-1. (also available at
  www.le.ac.uk/crss/.)
• Sport e Sviluppo Locale lEsperienza del calcio
  inglese in U. Lago, A. Baroncelli and S.
  Szymanski (eds), Il Business de Calcio Successi
  Sportivi e Rovesci Finanziari, 2004, pp131-147.
  ISBN 88-238-3056-7.
• 'Football Spectators in English and Italian
  Stadia' Soccer Review, 4, 2005, pp31-33 ISBN
  0-9544311-4-6. (also available http//www.supporte
  rs-direct.org/englandwales/library.htm)
• 'Cathedrals of Sport Football Stadia in
  Contemporary England' Soccer Review, 4, 2005,
  pp27-30 ISBN 0-9544311-4-6. (also available
  http//www.supporters-direct.org/englandwales/libr
  ary.htm)

52
Appendix Recent Publications on the Sociology of
Football II

• 'Sport e sviluppo economico locale I'esperienza
  del calcio inglese' in Tempi e Spazi dello Sport
  Italia Inghilterra Modelli a Confronto (2006)
  Bortoletto, N. and Mazza, B, (eds) Il Piccolo
  Libro Teramo, Italy.
• 'Gli spettatori negli stadi inglese ed italiani'
  in Tempi e Spazi dello Sport Italia
  Inghilterra Modelli a Confronto (2006)
  Bortoletto, N. and Mazza, B, (eds) Il Piccolo
  Libro Teramo, Italy.
• 'Le Cattedrali dello Sport gli staid di calico
  nell' Inghilterra contemporanea' in Tempi e Spazi
  dello Sport Italia Inghilterra medelli a
  confronto (2006) Bortoletto, N. and Mazza, B.
  (eds), Il Piccolo Libro Teramo, Italy.
• The English Football Stadium as a Site of
  Post-Modern Consumption Text and Image
  Sociologia del Lavoro, No. 108, 2008, pp 141-147.
  ISSN 0392-5048.
• 'Sport and Health The Return of the Local' in
  D. Jütting, B. Schulze, and U. Müller (eds) Local
  Sport in Europe (2007) Münster Institut für
  Sportkultur and Weilerbildung. ISBN
  978-3-00-021468-4, pp 221-228Available at
  http//www.eass2007.eu
• Sport and Health the Return of the Local in D.
  Jutting, B. Schulze and U. Müller (eds) Local
  Sport in Europe Berlin Waxmann, (2009)
  pp283-289. ISBN 978-3-8309-2015-1.